Fallout Equestria: The Wandering Alicorn

To many ponies these days, alicorns are legends from before the war. Stories that are useless to a wastelander trying to survive. To many others, alicorns are terrifying creatures who kidnap ponies for their “Goddess.” And to a few ponies, alicorns were real ponies from before the war, who ruled Equestria for thousands of years. But not many ponies know that the Princesses weren’t the only alicorns alive back then. It was extremely rare, but sometimes an alicorn would be born, and live among the ponies normally. Most of the alicorns in Equestria were killed on the Last Day, or shortly after by the Wasteland. Most, but not all. It’s rumored one still lives, somewhere in the Wasteland. Rumors vary from her wandering the wastes aimlessly, to living in the Frozen North, to even sightings by a filly who owns a Pinkie Pie museum. Unfortunately, other factions seem to have caught wind of the rumors as well, and if any of them were to get their hooves on the alicorn, the Wasteland would be in more danger than it’s ever been…

Players:JammexBronzeFogStar SentinelLorthalis of CrowsTyroDawnpath

The settlement of Grayhoof was a major caravan stop in the Equestrian Wasteland. Situated south of New Pegasus, many caravans and travelers pass through on their way to and from the city. Grayhoof itself is actually pretty small, containing a bar, a supply shop, and a few houses. A couple caravans and traveling merchants were gathered around the bar. The bar itself was well decorated, with neon lights bordering the ceiling, a working Sparkle-Cola machine, and various pictures on the walls, including a couple of pictures of ponies from before the war, such as the Ministry Mares. The shop beside the bar was less decorated, instead showing a nice selection of supplies. Makes sense, since a lot of trading caravans pass through.

Sweet trudged into Grayhoof in silence, gaze flicking about rapidly as she headed straight for the bar. The small mare brushed a lock of her icy mane out of her eyes and grumbled softly, her wings shuffling as her magic slowly checked each of her medic's uniform's pockets, making sure everything was there, and her (oddly) white ripper properly hidden beneath a wing. She saw the pretty sign around the bar's exterior and smiled, entering the bar and sliding to the closest table to the side of the entrance, seating herself in silence and looking around, observing the patrons for the most part.

Buzzsaw was sitting alone at the bar, a few empty beer bottles scattered around him. It wasn't even midday and the earth pony was already drowning his problems in drink.

He'd only been in Grayhoof for a few days and the locals had already learned to avoid him when he started drinking... and when he stopped... and before he started... okay, they'd learned to just avoid him altogether for the most part. Those who did not avoid him based on reputation alone avoided him because of Anarchy, the heavy, splitting axe that was usually propped up against (or embedded in, depending on his mood) the bar next to him, the head polished so well you could see your reflection in it. He looked over at the barkeep and waved them over. "Keep 'em comin'. Ah got a lotta drinkin' to do today."

Star landed down in Grayhoof, glancing around and taking stoke of his surroundings for a quick moment. He had odd ear plugs in his hears and sniper rifle with a silencer strapped across his back. In a gun holster on his left hoof was a 10mm pistol, situated for when he needed to take it out. He thought of what he needed to do here in Grayhoof, look for some cheap supplies, maybe grab a drink or two, see if there is any job around he could pick up.

But a real question he had to answer was, did he want to get a drink right now in the early morning, or look for supplies? Surely it wouldn't hurt to get one drink real quick while he's at it. So with a shrug he made his way to the well decorated bar.

Stepping into the bar, he looked over it's occupants for a second, his eyes falling on a particularly drunk pony. He scrunched his face up for a moment sticking his head outside to check the time. Mid morning, just like he though...He wasn't that bad at keeping track of time...With a shrug he trotted over and sat a fair distance away from the drunk pony with, what he saw, an axe. He called over the barkeeper for a drink, getting out his bag of caps. "A cup of whiskey if you would."

Candelight wasn't doing so good. The semi-nocturnal moth had found a nice, dark corner of a bar. His wings were wrapped around his person and his tinted goggles were on. I don't understand how these daywalkers do it. The night is so much more agreeable. He yawned and watched as new ponies came in. He also kept one eye on the earth pony with the axe. Having been around a while, he knew this pony would drink himself stupid and was prone to violence. That said, he had confidence that the stated pony would not recognize himself. After all, this was a dark corner, and he was a small pony with darker wings.

He sighed and wished for easier days, spent around make-shift cooking stations with a good pot and more than a hoofful of ingredients. All he had now was the supplies to make a bit of noodles, and what was necessary to make a pony crispy. And he couldn't eat noodles. Sooner or later he was gunna have to walk up there and ask for something to drink. He was also dreading every moment of it. I mean, this place smells like...like... gah, it's aweful. He eyeballed the rafters, wondering if it were safe.

Lunatic Veil was already very drunk, to the point where she had been cut off by the bartender. At the moment, she was propped up in a corner, struggling to maintain consciousness and what little lucidity was still available to her. 'Perhaps I should've stopped at four..' and other regretful thoughts bounce around her skull. Occasionally, someone would look at the horrifying tangle of limbs and scales in the corner, but this was the Wasteland, and at least is wasn't partially mechanized.

____________________________"Why should I form an alliance when I can do it all by myself?""To allow you to live serves no purpose. Knowledge must be preserved, and I already have yours.""We are opposites.... And strong.""I'm on my way Sister."

She couldn't actually recall if she'd ever herself been drunk as not only did she hate the taste, she tended to greatly dislike the company. More often than not bars and watering-holes attracted those that were not content, looking to drown their worries with mild poisons in copious quantities. More often than not bars thus harbored a great deal of negativity... and thus made Pylii a bit sick to her stomach.

But here she was regardless, likely because such places also heard the most news from those passing through, and she was after news after so long without. She wasn't much to look at, though she looked to be perhaps a bit better-fed than your average wastelander, grey-coated and grey-maned with wispy blue poking its way out of her mane about her horn. The mare had worn only a thin green tunic to keep from looking entirely naked and unarmed, which she'd otherwise be, but she felt as though she should have brought something else when she noticed the tingling sensation of hovering worry in the atmosphere. It was somewhere hovering at the back of consciousness, and she almost didn't notice it as she entered and began to cross the room, but it perked her ears once she neared the bar.

Oh. Oh dear. She felt as though she might have made a mistake in seating herself in a free location, because said seat was only a short distance from what she guessed might be the most worrisome patron; a large stallion with a larger axe already a few entire bottles deep into the aforementioned drowning of worries, which her empathic nature told her was the source of that tingling worry around the room.

Her perked ears heard a pony a short way down the bar ask for whiskey, and she recalled her attentions to herself, waiting a moment before piping up towards the 'tender. "Cola. With caffeine, if you have anything with it."

There were two ponies working in the bar this day. They were both pegasi; one was pink and the other was yellow, and they were both wearing pre-war waitress uniforms. The pink mare grabbed a bottle of whiskey and filled a cup with it, then set it down in front of Star. “There you are sir. If you need anything else, just say so.” She then moved over to Sweet. “Can I get you anything?” She asked.

The yellow pegasus meanwhile passed along another bottle of beer to the axe-wielding stallion. “Just remember to pay me this time.” She said sternly. Her attention was shifted before she could lecture him by another stallion complaining that the vending machine would not accept his cap. She chuckled and walked over to him. “Good sir, this is a pre-war vending machine, as in it takes pre-war bits.” To demonstrate, she took a bit and put it into the machine, which dispensed an ice-cold Sparkle Cola. She gave it to the stallion, and he gave a few caps in return. She then put another bit in to get a Sparkle Cola for Pylii, giving the cold bottle to her. “Here, I assume this is good enough? If not, I can check the machine for a different cola.”

Passing by Candelight into the bar were two unicorn stallions. One green, the other red. They seemed nervous and in a hurry. “Listen, they’ll be here any minute. Why are we risking our necks looking for information here?” The green one asked his partner.

The red stallion seemed to ignore the question, and instead turned to the yellow pegasus. “I hear a lot of caravans pass through here. You must hear a lot of stories and rumors. Tell me, have you heard anything about an alicorn around here?” He asked.

The bartender frowned and turned to look at him. “Sure, I’ve heard a lot of things about alicorns. From stories about Celestia coming from old ghouls to tales of those alicorns belonging to the so-called ‘Goddess,’ I’ve heard a lot of stories.” She said dryly.

The stallion frowned right back. He was about to retort, but the green stallion nudged him and pointed at a wall clock nervously. The red stallion huffed. “Fine then. Be that way. We’ll look elsewhere.” And with that, the two left.

Sweet grinned lightly as the pink mare slipped over. "Cola, bitte." She mumbled, her grin shifting as she watched two stallion slip into and out of the bar, her ears flicking as she yawned, not thinking much of it, she hadn't been listening, and it didn't involve her(...yet), so why should she care? She shifted, taking out her bone-white Ripper and setting it on the table along with a cloth, beginning to lightly clean the weapon with a soft hum. "Scharfen kleinen Knochensäge..." She mumbled with a ridiculous grin.

Star smiled the pink mare as she set down a glass of whisky for him. He nodded his head at her and tanked her warmly before proceeding to take out his ear plugs. While they were great for muffling out gun shots and the like when out in the wastes, he did like to be able to hear danger before it comes up on him. He didn't pay much attention to the other occupants of the bar, especially the axe wielding pony who seemed to not pay what he drinks, but he did keep a keen ear out for anything.

He picked up his glass and sipped it, enjoying the nice taste of whisky in the morning. Something that was always good in the wasteland was a little bit of alcohol. He tipped his glass to pour a bit more of the contents into his mouth when two stallions came into the bar. At first he didn't pay them any mind, but when they mentioned someone was going to be here any minute and alicorns, he could help but lower his glass and listen in for a bit.

When they left, he hummed to himself. "Hmm...Paranoid pair or legitimately have ponies after them...And the matter of alicorns...That's never good..." He mumbled to himself as he downed the rest of his whisky. He did not have a good feeling about those two stallions. So he tossed a few caps onto the table, took out his ear plugs and put them in, and quickly rushed out of the bar after those two, wondering what they were on about.

"Yeah yeah, Ah will." Buzzsaw said as he picked up the beer and strayed chugging it down. Just as he was finishing his drink a pair of stallions waked in and started talking. He picked up some stuff about alicorns, whatever they were, and maybe something about someone looking for them? Before he could work up the will to care the stallions had left, followed by one of the other ponies sitting at the bar. Buzzsaw shrugged, he didn't know what that was about and didn't really give a shit either way. He pushed the empty bottle over to the others before calling out. "Can Ah get another beer over here please?"

Pylii returned only a grin at the yellow mare that had given her a Sparkle Cola, allowing for a long pause before actually responding. "Thanks... this'll work," she said, her horn flickering to remove the cap... and pocketing it. One of her ears swiveled as more ponies entered the bar, but her eyes roamed elsewhere.

The unicorn sipped at the cola; the sugar didn't do much for her, but the caffiene was more than welcome. It was the only reason she drank cola at all unless offered. Of course she could have done without, but coming into a bar and having nothing would be suspect.

The yellow pegasus bartender getting into a conversation caught her attention for a moment, being as she had only just passed by, though she didn't turn to look with who. She heard only a few words, unfortunately.

When the yellow mare started back she gave her a little frown. "Guess they weren't thirsty..?" she poked the question tentatively.

Candelight watched the two unicorn pass and perked his ears. Potential threat detcted. These ponies seem agitated, he thought, pulling out his 'lovingly' named lazer pistol, 'Little Light'. He shuffled his wings to hide it in his lap, watching them suspiciously. When he heard them talking about Alicorns, he grew a bit more suspicious. More myth hunters, he thought, watching them leave, It's a good job they didn't think she was lying. They might have torn this bar apa- His eyes strayed over the bar, and he got a new feeling. I suddenly don't think... I'm safe here. He stood, tucking his pistol in the fold of his wing, and approached the bar, entering the light. "Mutfruit juice if you have it." He looked around from this new vantage, trying to find... what was off.

The pink mare nodded and set a Cola down for Sweet. Taking a glance over at what was going on outside, she figured her friend could handle it, and collected the caps Star had left on the table. She then got a beer for the axe wielding pony. The mare was kinda glad this one had at least some brains, else he would be shouting about his tasty vegetable bicycles.

The stallions turned around to face Star as he approached. The red one looked ready to fight, but the green one spoke first. “What is it? We’re kind of in a rush, and this is not the safest place to be right now.” He said.

Meanwhile, the yellow pegasus looked over at Pylii and smiled. “Nope, but I bet they’re hungry.” She said, then turned to the pink mare. “Hey, could you fetch my gun from the supply closet? The white one?” She nodded and went through a door, coming back with a white energy rifle attached to a battle saddle. She helped get the saddle on the yellow mare. “Perfect.”

The pink mare looked at her friend as she got a glass of Mutfruit juice for the latest arrival. “Expecting trouble, Sunny?” She asked, setting the glass down on the counter.

Sunny nodded. “Something has them scared. I don’t know what yet, but best to be safe rather than sorry.”

Off in the distance, gunshots were heard. But it was the Wasteland. That sort of thing was normal.

Sweet smiled thankfully and forked over a few bits in thanks for the Cola, before she just sat back, humming and sipping softly, continuing to softly clean her Ripper, before soon putting it away slowly and grumbling, noticing the Yellow pegasus gearing up, Sweet really hoping she wouldn't have to rip anyone's heads off...But for now, she was happy to just sip her Cola and enjoy the sounds of a regular Wasteland bar, and a small part of her eager to get into a fight. She did love using her little Knochensäge.

Buzz Saw's ears pricked up a little upon hearing the gunshots. Normally he's just shrug it off as the normal noises of the Wasteland but something about it felt... different, wrong somehow. he wasn't the smartest guy in the world but even he thought those Stallions appearing and the gunshots surely couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Without really thinking about it he steps away from the bar, picking up Anarchy before kicking a table over so it blocks the door. "Ah don't know what's goin' but Ah don't think any of us should go outside..." He says, moving a chair in front of the door too.

"Wouldn't take a genius to figure that part out." Star muttered under his breath when the stallions said they were in a hurry. "Well you two talked about an alicorn. Why in the hell are ponies looking for an alicorn? Don't ya know they're bad news?" He looked at them, narrowing his eyes slightly. "And a second thought...Who is after you? Not quite my business, but you saying what you just said, implies that whoever it is is here." His ears perk up at the gunshots. He furled his eyebrows a bit, frowning. "I'mma guess that's them...Sounds like they're shooting everything in their way to get to you two...You're in a settlement...Definitely my business now. So talk real fast if you want to get out of the open soon." He took out his 10mm and pointed it at one of the two.

Pylii was not a combat type of pony. Technically she wasn't even a pony, but that was just getting into some semantics.The sight of an energy weapon being returned to the mare she had just been speaking to caught her immediate attention and she wasn't the sort to go ignoring violence in the vicinity, especially if it were accompanied by distant gunshots. Clearly something was going on. She visibly flinched as the pony she had sat a bit too close to got up, moving to a table and kicking it over in front of the door.

She gave a glance down to the counter and her recently-opened bottle of Sparkle Cola, still audibly fizzing with carbonation. What a waste it would be if something were to happen and she would have to bail out entirely; she raised the bottle and started downing it much faster than she had wanted to originally, and then started making her way back and away from the door, moving along the bar. She almost bumped into a very strange insect-winged pony in her movement and offered a mumbled apology.

Candelight put his drink down, finished with it, and turned to look at the mare before him. Wow, she's... really, really... cute. He blushes, "Not a problem, miss. If by back here, you mean, over by the bar away from the door, you could, uhh... have the seat here." He blushes a bit more darkly, turning back to the bar to hide his face a bit better and stare at the bottom of his drink. "I wouldn't mind." The nature of his race meant that she could probably feel the embarrassment and attraction coming off him more strongly than normal, though he wouldn't know that. Very cute. And like most cute girls, she will now probably leave, because I am awkward and weird-looking. At least this drink tastes alright. He turns the cup over in his hooves.

The green stallion sighed. “Fine. We’re looking for an alicorn from before the war. Most ponies think alicorns either never existed or all died during the war, but we found out one survived the bombings. We’re trying to track her down, but we haven’t had much luck.” The red stallion turned to leave, but a red blast of magical energy impacted his head, killing him instantly and disintegrating him. The green one looked towards where the shot came from, terrified. He then turned to Star and shoved his saddlebags at him. “Listen, you gotta find that alicorn! If you don’t, everything will be destroyed again!” He let out a scream as another bolt of energy killed him as well.

The next moment, four pegasi in black recon barding landed in front of Star. They were led by another, wearing Enclave Power Armor. Each of them were wielding a magical energy rifle. “Good morning. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sergeant Dusk Sentry. We’re here to collect the information these two had obtained on the alicorn. It is essential in our operations that we find it, and your cooperation would be appreciated. If you refuse, we’ll have no choice but to assume this town is hiding information and destroy it before the savages do.” He said.

Meanwhile, Sunny opened a window to observe. She saw the Enclave show up and grimaced. “Alright, anypony who wants to defend this town from the Enclave, front and center. Everypony else should take the back door and leave while they still can.” She said. The caravan that was in the bar took the hint and quickly left.

Sweet's ears flicked, and she smirked in delight. "Time to split some Naggenvatchers?" She asked Sunny, giggling as she levitated her Ripper to the side and looked out the window with an insane grin, as if she was thinking about jumping out the window herself. "Ich thinking zese fools are Verboten on ze premises, Ja?" Sweet asked Sunny, the small thestral's wings shuffling lightly as she checked a pocket. "Oh, Vunderbar." She mumbled sarcastically. "Out of Sprengstoff..."

Buzzsaw just stared at the Enclave through the window, his gaze lingering on Dusk. He did this for a few seconds before turning and heading out the back door with the caravaners but once he was outside, instead of heading out of town and running for the hills he turned and started making his way around the side of the building. "What a lovely little steel chicken... Let's see if that can holds up against a real weapon." He mumbled to himself, his rage had been building up all day and he was just itching for a fight, he wasn't just glad they turned up and started trouble, it was almost like he needed this to happen. He needed an excuse to not just kill, but to enjoy it, and this was as good as any other.

As he neared the front of the building Buzzsaw pressed the blade of his axe against the wall and dragged it along, producing an audible scraping noise. The fun part was coming now and he wanted them to know what was coming, that the end was right around the corner. When he reached the end he stopped and simply poked his head out, staring at them once again, a downright psychopathic grin spreading across his face as his eyes narrowed at them before he suddenly let out a loud cry (well, more of a roar, really) of anger and charged straight at Dusk, Anarchy scraping along the floor as he galloped with a surprisingly high speed. The axe glinted a little in the light as the rage filled stallion raised his weapon and brought it down upon the sergeant's head, Buzzsaw laughing manically all the while.

Star nodded, listening close to the stallion talk. When a magical energy shot came out of somewhere and disintegrated him, his eyes opened wide as he stared at the dust pile then at the one remaining stallion left. He held onto the saddlebags that he shoved into his hooves, staring at him in shock. "I-." He tried to say before he too was shot and killed. He watched the enclave land in front of him with a gulp, his ears flicking behind him as he heard things going on inside. He gulped, carefully moving to but his 10mm back in it's holster, not wanting to antagonize the enclave...yet. He glanced over at Sunny opening a window, staring for a moment before turning back to Dusk.

He took in a deep breath and looked at the saddlebags in his hooves. "Soo...You're saying this saddlebag has information on an alicorn. And you want it. And if you don't get it, you'll kill this town..." He said, honestly just delaying for time. He'd never give the enclave anything, and he was damn sure the ones in the bar were just about ready to shoot them even if he were to give them the saddlebags. Plus...he felt like he kinda had to follow the two stallions' wish after they were shot.

His ear perked as he started hearing scraping from the side of the building. He raised his head and looked over, seeing the highly drunk pony from the bar peeking around the corner grinning. His eyes widened as he started running towards Dusk, wondering if he had a death wish...On second thought, he didn't really quite care, taking the moment of distraction to rush to the window and jump though. "Coming through!" He shouted out, the saddlebags still in his hooves.

Pylii watched the odd-winged pony for a moment, considering them; she could very clearly sense him empathically. Were this another time she might have taken a much more keen interest and likely would have exercised less restraint, but at the moment it seemed as though things were rather suddenly moving downhill. Downhill instead became a sheer cliff, Pylii's ears flattening down as she hear the telltale discharge of an energy weapon and saw a flash outside the bar's windows. The flicker of a beam was familiar to her, as was the crackle and brief flare of a cascade from the target turning to ash... but she didn't know who was struck, or who struck them.It probably didn't matter, so long as weapon fire was concerned.

"...we need to leave," she said then, her voice sounding perhaps a bit more calm that it really should be in this situation. She turned to look intently at the odd moth pony, repeating herself. "We need to leave. Quickly. Before anything goes wro-" CRASH!In the front of the bar a pony had leapt entirely through the window, which was likely not a good idea as the door wasn't far to the other side. One of the ponies from earlier in the bar was barreling through with a saddlebag, and behind she could now see a very recognizable suit of chitinous-looking armor. Pylii's voice broke as she spotted the armor, and her eyes widened in surprise; her run-ins with Enclave had been very far and few between, but none of those instances had been pleasant.

The need to leave had become much more urgent; when Enclave were riled, as it looked like they were about to be, their anger often became very indiscriminate.

"Get gone, ponies!" Pylii called out to the bar in general warning, her horn flickering back to life to reach out with magic, scooping up multiple bottles from the nearby counter that were in varying stages of emptiness, most not her own. Three... no four would do. For now. She had no intention of facing off with Enclave if she could help it; she could maybe deal with one of them if she surprised them with some fancy trickery, but more than one in a bad mood.... it'd be bad.

"Getting gone sounds fantastic," Candelight says, ears flattening as a pony crashes through the window. He stands quickly, forgetting that he's armed for the moment, and works his way towards the back entrance, pausing for a moment to look at the pretty unicorn who's levitating his drink. He swallows nervously, wings shuffling, before his lazer pistol drops out of his wing. He stares at it for a moment, Oh yeah, Little Light. He picks up the modified pistol in his mouth and aims at the front door, casting glances towards the unicorn.